Trivia: Born in Houston in 1949, actress Loretta Devine rose to fame on-stage in the original Broadway production of Dreamgirls before parlaying her acclaim into a career in film and television. Her first major onscreen role came in 1987, when she was cast as a resident advisor on the Cosby Show-spin-off A Different World. Though she left the series after the first season, it was far from her final gig as a TV series regular.Throughout the early '90s, Devine appeared in small supporting roles in features films such as Class Act and Amos & Andrew as well as a number of TV guest spots on shows ranging from Roc to Picket Fences. In 1995, Devine's career was given a shot in the arm when she was cast as one of the leads in Waiting to Exhale, an ensemble film that proved to be a success with both critics and audiences. More supporting work followed, and in 2000 she was cast as a lead on David E. Kelley's Fox drama Boston Public, a show that would go on to be nominated for multiple Emmys over the course of its four seasons on the air.Devine's career came full-circle in 2006 when she was cast in a small role in the film adaptation of Dreamgirls, the stage musical that launched her career. The following year, she was cast as a regular on ABC's supernatural legal drama Eli Stone.In 2010 she appeared in the American remake of Death at a Funeral, the comedy Lottery Ticket, and Tyler Perry's ambitious For Colored Girls. In 2011 she appeared in Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family, and the next year she had a role on the TV series The Client List.

Trivia: Amber Riley swears she began singing at age 2 and hasn't stopped since. She auditioned at 17 for American Idol but was rejected. Ironically, she landed at FOX as diva Mercedes Jones on Glee and belted out the National Anthem (again on FOX) before Game 3 of the 2009 World Series. The La Mirada, CA, native honed her craft appearing in numerous theater productions, including Alice in Wonderland, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Into the Woods, and Mystery on the Docks with the Los Angeles Opera. Riley first worked with Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy in 2002 when he cast her in his WB sitcom pilot St. Sass. Although the pilot wasn't picked up, the experience helped Riley land a part in the ensemble cast of Cedric the Entertainer Presents. She made her big-screen debut with the 2011 documentary Glee Live! In Concert!